Taylor ESS team proves invaluable to entire region

Volunteers are dedicated to helping strangers

The District of Taylor’s Emergency Support Services team is among the best trained in the province, and this training, as well as the team’s dedication proved invaluable during the wildfire evacuations this spring.

At Monday’s District Council meeting, council thanked members of the ESS for their tireless work. The ESS team is a vital component of the entire emergency management team. Although the members’ first commitment is to Taylor, their desire to cooperate without hesitation is at the forefront of the volunteer assistance that they provide throughout the Peace region.

“You guys do all the heavy lifting, you just drop everything and go,” said Kristine Doerksen, Taylor’s Deputy Director of Protective Services, the assembled members of the ESS team. She added that without the team’s efforts, helping neighbouring municipalities the situation could have been much different.

Taylor Mayor, Brent Taillefer echoed these sentiments. “Our ESS team is the best in the region,” he said. “ESS is often overlooked, until it’s required, but they have made a difference in the lives of many people.”

This spring, Taylor’s ESS team assisted in many communities in the Peace region. They dedicated all their time to assist strangers who were evacuated. The team spent 20 days actively deployed, and volunteered for over 360 hours in the Fort St. John and Dawson Creek reception centres.

The communities and ESS teams that benefitted from Taylor’s teams assistance include:

• Fort St. John (FSJ) and Dawson Creek ESS during the Red Creek area evacuation

• FSJ ESS during the Stoddard Creek and Cameron Lake area evacuation

• FSJ ESS during the Donnie Creek area evacuation, and

• FSJ and Dawson Creek ESS during the Tumbler Ridge area evacuation

Although there has always been some type of ESS team in Taylor, the current standard of training and dedication came about “because of a need in Taylor many, many years ago,” said Taillefer.

That need was the Younger Extraction Plant explosion, on January 27, 1999. While only a small portion of the plant was affected by the explosion, the plant was off-line for almost a year following the incident. The cause was described by officials as an equipment failure which led to a release of liquid hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons created a vapour cloud when it came into contact with the air. The cloud then ignited, causing a huge fireball.

The ESS really took off then, Taillefer said, culminating in the creation of the Taylor Industrial Mutual Aid Group in 2018.

“For a number of years, we’ve had a core group of enthusiastic people keeping it going,” he said. Currently the ESS has six members, but at times they’ve had up to 20 people volunteering.

“Other communities are looking to us to help them form their ESS teams.”

Members of the ESS team gave credit to the volunteers from Fort St. John who stepped up to help with the evacuees during the wildfires. Jeanette Johnson of Aniela’s Kitchen, was particularly helpful during the evacuation of residents from Tumbler Ridge. She provided meals for vulnerable people who had been bused to Fort St. John and were staying in hotels, with no means to get around.

“Every time there’s an evacuation, we learn a little more, even if we think that we’ve got it down pat,” said ESS volunteer Shelley Gass.